Four Manchester City players have swapped their football boots for their dream job - racing drivers.

The tongue-in-cheek idea was the brainchild of Nissan, a partner of the club, which commissioned a study that discovered that a third of nine to 13-year olds believe that footballers and racing drivers have the most exciting careers in the world

The players David Silva, Bacary Sagna, Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala donned racing suits and under the guidance of Nissan’s GT Academy drivers found themselves in the fast lane as they went head-to-head at Manchester City Race Way on the Etihad Campus.

The City players ready to roll

After a few spins, stalls and false starts it was Fernando and Mangala who emerged from the semi-finals in which Mangala eventually triumphed in a hard-fought last round.

Chris Marsh of Nissan said: “Being able to make some of the country’s most celebrated talent accessible to our fans through this activity is what makes this partnership so exciting.

“Seeing the reaction from the players and drivers experiencing the dream job swap has been fantastic and we hope to get a similar reaction from viewers.”

The players used the Nissan Juke NISMO RS for their track day with professional drivers Jann Mardenborough, Miguel Faisca, Ricardo Sanchez and Lucas Ordóñez teaching them.

The drivers

It was Portuguese driver Faisca who won the football tests when the racing drivers swapped with the footballers for tests that included speed, dribbling and shooting contests.